Michelle Schroeder, public policy director for SRS, says the old policy favored households that include illegal immigrants.

"We just felt it inherently unfair that U.S. citizens were held at a higher standard than households with ineligible non-citizens, that the preferential treatment was going for those households over U.S. citizen households," Schroeder said.

Illegal immigrants are not eligible for food stamps, but their children, who are sometimes U.S. citizens, can be eligible.